Controversy Surrounds Video of Gay Party in Karawang Entertainment Venue; MUI Urges Police Action
The Karawang Regency branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in West Java has requested that competent authorities investigate allegations of a gay party held at a night entertainment venue that is suspected of lacking official permits in the Karawang urban area.
Asep Saepudin, Head of Education and Pesantren at MUI Karawang, stated on Monday that Karawang has been shaken over the past 24 hours by video recordings depicting a party involving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. “It has recently been discovered that this LGBT party took place in an entertainment venue that has just opened and has not yet completed its official licensing,” he said.
In response to the situation, MUI Karawang is urging the authorities to investigate and take firm action against the LGBT party. “MUI Karaway views such activities as being in conflict with Islamic religious norms, moral norms, and the values of Pancasila,” he added.
The operation of a night entertainment venue without complete permits also constitutes a legal violation and has the potential to cause public unrest. “Law enforcement and the Karawang Regency Government must take decisive action in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, as well as close night entertainment venues that do not possess the required permits,” he stated.
Asep conveyed that MUI Karawang is committed to maintaining order, morality, and communal harmony. “We invite the community to work together to counter activities that damage the value systems in our region,” he said.
MUI Karawang also urged the public to remain calm, avoid vigilantism, and leave the handling of the matter to the authorities. He noted that religion teaches that humans are dignified from birth through life and even after death, and that this dignity is preserved through religious, state, and conscientious rules. “When those rules are abandoned, what remains is not freedom, but confusion. A party celebrating deviation (LGBT) in a venue that violates licensing is a double wound: a wound to the values inherited by the ancestors of Karawang, and a wound to the laws agreed upon for us to live in an orderly and peaceful manner,” he remarked.
Previously, the Karawang community was unsettled by the circulation of a video allegedly showing a gay party located at a nightclub in the Karawang urban area. The video footage shows several men in pairs dancing, hugging, and kissing within the venue.